Those Who Are Heartless
by mashamallows
Summary: Those who are heartless, once cared too much. This sentence can describe Dr. Maura Isles' life perfectly. The queen of the dead. The cold, heartless woman. Her colleagues have so many nicknames for her. Yet, her reputation didn't scare off young Detective Jane Rizzoli, who is determined to make a friend out of a dead soul. Slightly AU. Slowburn Rizzles.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi there! Idk what got into me to write a new story (since mine are practically piling up in a corner), but I couldn't help it! I started watching the show, and god I LOVE RIZZLES SO MUCH! But who can blame me right ;) Anyway, this is something that I have been thinking about. I hope you like it! This is an AU, so the characters may seem a bit OOC. They are also younger, and with different back-stories than the show. Enjoy :)**

 **Disclaimer: Nothing. Nada is mine.**

* * *

 _ **Those who are heartless, once cared too much. This sentence can describe Dr. Maura Isles' life perfectly. The queen of the dead. The cold, heartless woman. Her colleagues have so many nicknames for her. Yet, her reputation didn't scare off young Detective Jane Rizzoli, who is determined to make a friend out of a dead soul.**_

"Hi guys!" Jane Rizzoli yelled with her usual enthusiasm as she entered the homicide precinct, a cup of steaming coffee in her hand.

"Rizzoli!" Frost smiled at her, loving how her bubbly manners always managed to light up the room.

Korsak greeted her too, with a nod and a smile, too taken with his phone. Probably a text from his dearest 'Kiki', whom Jane hoped to meet someday. But, apparently, the sergeant was trying to preserve his wife from his colleagues' incessant bugging and butting-in.

An accusation, which, of course, Jane found totally false.

"Hey, did you hear the news?" Frost whispered at her excitedly, as soon as she sat at her desk.

She immediately grinned and leaned toward him, always interested in gossip, which managed to find itself circulating amongst the detectives in the department practically every day.

That was not to be judged, however, since they were usually bored out of their minds when their hands were free. Even silently hoping that someone would be killed, only to have a case.

"Tell me everything." She grinned even wider, then frowned. "Do I wanna know?" Before her young colleague could answer, she shook her head in a 'Nah' manner. "Doesn't matter, tell me anyway."

Frost chuckled at his friend, and took a sip of his coffee, prolonging the wait.

"Oh come on Frost, tell me already!"

He laughed, then winked at her. "I wasn't sure that you wanted to know."

"Frost." She glared at him, which got him laughing again.

"Okay, okay. So, Dr. Ramsey quit." He said excitedly. Understandably so, since the man was intolerable and harsh 90% of the time. The remaining 10% were a seriously scary resting bitch face, which everybody found spooky and weird. Jane never imagined men having bitch faces, until she met the guy. He also liked to dwell on the gruesome and usually unimportant details, only to set off his colleagues.

"NO!" She squealed, a glimmer in her eyes. Maybe this time, they would have a better M.E. With a little luck, they would even find someone good.

"YES!" Frost squealed back at her, not noticing Korsak, who was rolling his eyes at them from behind his desk. Their girly antics never ceased to amuse him. "And the new M.E is already here!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

The two kids looked at each other for a moment, before bursting into laughter. Korsak chuckled lightly, returning to his phone.

"Come on, let's go down to the cafe to grab donuts, and I'll tell you all I know about our new guy."

Jane nodded excitedly, and hopped off her chair, following Frost, but not before asking Korsak if he needed anything, which he denied politely.

They both arrived into the cafe, giggling quietly at a joke Jane made. 'I hope the new M.E isn't as dead as the corpses he works on.'

Such a lame joke, but their friendship was basically based on pleasantries like that.

They found Angela, Jane's mother, serving some clients at the counter.

"Hey Ma!" And "Hey Mrs. R!" Echoed at the same time in the room. The two best friends were accustomed to it by now, as was Angela, but they still got some weirded-out looks from the other customers.

"Hi kids, what can I get ya?" She asked in her usual funny accent, winking at them, and completely forgot the client she was serving.

Said client looked at them, raising an eyebrow, but chose to stay in line, silently, politely, as she always did. She didn't care if the people behind her started fussing and complaining about the service, she stayed cool and regal, her hands clasped almost royally in front of her.

This didn't go unnoticed by the trained eye of the female Detective, who nudged Frost in the ribs, and mentioned the woman discreetly.

She was in her late twenties, maybe early thirties, not more. She was standing silently, the first in line, adjusting nonexistent wrinkles on her beautiful white dress. It had blue and black feathers around the waistline, a pattern that made the woman's waist look slim and desirable. Jane gulped. That dress probably cost more than her monthly salary.

"Politeness isn't dead. And wow." Frost muttered, while waiting for Angela to get them their donuts.

"Exactly my thoughts." Jane nodded absent-mindedly. This woman had every right to complain, and even threaten Angela to fire her (she looked like she had enough money to do it). Instead, there she was, waiting for them.

"CAN YOU FINISH UP ALREADY?" An elder man suddenly shouted from just behind the classy woman, who turned around, and looked at him, surprised.

Jane gritted her teeth, as she watched her mother look at the man in fear, heading towards him to apologize.

Before Jane could give him a piece of her mind, the lady in the beautiful dress cleared her throat gently. God, even that sounded sophisticated coming from her.

All the eyes in the room drifted towards her. She smiled at Angela, then turned to face the man.

"Can you do anything about it?" She asked politely, smiling a bit.

This seemed to shake the elder man out of his reverie (those legs though!) and he stood up straighter.

"I'm sorry?"

"Can you do anything about the fact that the kind lady served her daughter and her friend before you? Besides screaming your lungs out, that is." She glowered slightly, which got her a gulp from the man.

"N-no…"

"Can you go beat up the two detectives?"

"No…"

"Then, kindly return in the line please. There was no need to make such a scene." She smiled contently at herself, as she watched him nodding, his eyes filled with remorse, as he went back in the line behind her. Cold, yes, she is. Heartless, sure. Anti-social, of course. But rude and impolite weren't words she would describe herself with.

Jane's jaw almost hit the ground. Who was this woman?

Angela gave the donuts to the detectives and stepped around the corner, walking towards the young woman.

Then, unexpectedly, she hugged her tightly, tears rimming her eyes. "Thank you so much! Thank you, thank you!"

The woman seemed taken aback by the sudden display of affection by a woman she doesn't even know. She hugged her back gently, then let go as Angela quickly hopped back behind the counter.

"Whatever you want, it's on me today!" Angela smiled brightly at the woman, who she considered as a hero now. Nobody ever stepped up for her like that before, except her children, of course.

"Oh, no, please, it is not necessary. But thank you."

"I'm Angela Rizzoli." The elder woman extended her hand over the counter for the younger girl to shake.

"I'm Dr. Maura Isles, the new Chief Medical Examiner."

Jane almost spit out her donut.

* * *

 **This is the first chapter! Hopefully, the rest follows tomorrow, and it will also be longer! Reviews warm my heart :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi! Chapter 2 came super quickly, and is a bit longer! Hope you like it :)**

 **Thank you so much for the huge feedback on chapter 1! I hope this one meets your expectations.**

* * *

"I'm Dr. Maura Isles, the new Chief Medical Examiner." The young woman smiled politely, shaking Angela's extended hand.

"Oh, so I'll see you often then! I know exactly what to thank you with!" Angela happily announced, suddenly turning around and disappearing behind the double doors.

The doctor stared at the place where the woman was standing almost two seconds ago, completely confused. What happened? Where did she go? Did she scare her off, like usual?

Jane got this as her cue to introduce herself, and thank this stranger for defending her mother.

"Don't mind her. She's usually hyper in the morning." The detective joked lightly, earning herself a small, shy smile from the petite woman.

"I'm Detective Jane Rizzoli, very happy to meet you Dr. Isles. And thanks for standing up for Ma. That was very cool."

Maura smiled again, unsure of what to say. She always was clueless about socializing with people. That's why she chose the dead branch of medicine. Not having to deal with live patients made it so much easier.

"So, where are you from?" Jane continued the conversation, not noticing the turmoil going on inside the doctor's head.

'Come on, Maura, this one is simple! You can answer this question! Come on!'

She remembered the exercises her psychiatrist gave her to use when she felt overwhelmed by the social activity around her.

She breathed in and out slowly, then managed a small "France".

Jane almost didn't hear her, but grinned nevertheless.

"Oh, fancy."

The doctor nodded wordlessly. Talking to this man about politeness seemed so easy earlier, and so did the small conversation with Angela. But that was about how much she could manage in social events. And this wasn't even a social event.

'Damn you, Maura. Not even a conversation?!'

She lowered her eyes to the ground in a moment of self-hatred, then looked up at Jane again, her eyes cold and void of emotion.

'What the hell just happened?! She was just smiling a second ago!' Jane thought, completely scandalized.

Without a word, the doctor turned on her heels and went back to Angela to get her coffee and croissant, thanking her with a forced smile, then got out of the cafe, her blue heels clicking and clacking on the cold floor.

"See Jane, that's an education I tried to force into that hard head of yours." Angela scolded her, like usual.

"Ma, come on!"

"The young lady did the right thing! Be kind with her, it's her first day." Angela glared at her daughter, who glared back for a while, then sighed, defeated.

"Okay, Ma."

She then turned to Frost, who was already sitting on their usual table.

"This new M.E is the BOMB!" The young man whispered loudly, apparently excited that their 'new guy' was actually a girl.

"Yeah, but didn't she seem… I don't know, off to you?" Jane said suspiciously, sipping her coffee.

She bit into her chocolate donut, and almost moaned at the heavenly taste.

"Yeah, but hey, maybe the nerves of the first day?"

"Yeah, maybe. But that was really cool of her. To defend Ma like that."

"Well, she's French." Frost joked, and they both chuckled, continuing their breakfast with useless chatter, the subject often coming back to the new M.E.

Meanwhile, Maura entered her office in a rush, and closed the door after her.

She closed the blinds and locked the door, then let herself slide against the wood of the door, until she was on the floor.

She put her head in her hands and sighed, sobs wanting to come out badly. She swallowed harshly, and wiped her eyes, willing the tears to stay at bay.

'Finally an opportunity to have a friend, and you blew it. Bravo Maura. Bravo. Well done.'

She took a shuddering breath. She wanted to remind herself that it wasn't her fault that she was socially inept, but still, she hated herself for letting it take control of her.

She was mean with the detective earlier, who was just trying to be friendly.

She was able to introduce herself to Angela, and to scold that rude man. Why couldn't she hold a simple conversation with Detective Rizzoli, who really seemed genuine and friendly?

She inhaled and exhaled deeply, steeling herself, then she got off the ground, unlocking her door, but she kept it closed, along with the blinds.

She sat on her desk, staring at the croissant Angela gave her. That woman was so sweet. The perfect mother, she assumed. She sighed slightly. It wasn't like she knew what a perfect mother was like.

She bit into the delicious pastry, and let herself drown in memories. She smiled dreamily as she remembered Paris, the crowded streets, the wonderful gastronomy, the wide and deep history.

She needed to go back there, as soon as possible. She decided that her next vacation would be there, to visit her aunt.

Her Aunt Charlotte was the only person she could consider a mother, and a friend. Since her mother died when she was only ten years old, her father sent her away to her aunt's, because he couldn't bear looking at her a second more. She reminded him too much of his late wife, even though Maura was adopted.

She opened her laptop to continue working on her second novel (she couldn't believe it when her first one got into the Bestsellers List in the NY Times), when she was interrupted by a knock on her door.

She looked up quizzically. Who would want to visit her on her first day?

"Come in." She said, turning off her laptop and sitting in a more composed posture.

An older man, probably in his late forties entered the room in a confident stride, grinning at her.

She stood up, smiling slightly.

He saluted, and grinned even wider.

"Ma'am, I am Lieutenant Cavanaugh, the head of the homicide Department. I am honored to welcome you among us."

He extended his hand, which she shook back a little shyly.

"Hello Lieutenant. I'm Dr. Maura Isles."

"I know who you are." He winked, then gestured to a seat in front of her desk.

She nodded with a soft "please", sitting down herself.

"Your reputation precedes you. Youngest Medical graduate in years, and the youngest to choose the forensic specialty and succeed in it. Are you some kinda genius?"

Maura felt her face get hot, which usually meant that she looked like a tomato now.

She cleared her throat and smiled tightly at the man.

"A little."

"Well then, I am happy that we have the best in our Department." He stood up, clearing his throat.

"Would you like me to give you a tour, and introduce you to our detectives and officers?"

"That would be lovely, thank you. I had a little trouble finding my office, to be honest." She said softly, casting her eyes to the ground for a moment.

Cavanaugh didn't seem to care about her shyness, as he strode back towards the elevator, chatting about how their labs were the most sophisticated and elaborate, "only the best for the best," he added, and she couldn't help but feel slightly more at ease with him. His cool and laid-back attitude reminded her of her Uncle Louis back in France.

They toured around the department, going into some interrogation rooms, and stopping by to greet officers. She was relieved to see that Cavanaugh did most of the talking, since her heart was beating too fast for her to talk.

They finally arrived at the room where all the Analysts and Detectives were sitting, trying not to fall asleep. Already 36 hours without a case, and they were starting to get antsy.

Her eyes immediately settled on Detective Rizzoli, who was too busy playing cards with a dark skinned man, whom she assumed was another Detective, to notice that they were here.

Korsak did notice, of course, and he stood up, out of respect for the lieutenant.

"Boss." He greeted him with a salute, then his eyes turned to Maura, who shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. Though, she didn't let it show, as she stood regally tall, her hands clasped in front of her.

"I suppose you're the new M.E?" He asked, leaning on his desk.

"I am. Dr. Maura Isles."

"Sergeant Vince Korsak." He nodded at her. She seemed a bit too young to be the chief medical examiner of the commonwealth. He shrugged, thinking that she may be older than what she looked like, for all he knew.

The two youngest detectives in the room finally halted their game of cards to look at the exchange.

Frost stood up and cleared his throat, then approached Maura with a smile.

"Hi there! I'm Detective Barry Frost, Rizzoli's partner." He gestured at his friend, who immediately stood up and approached them.

Jane grinned at the younger woman, who returned it with a small smile.

"Yes, I have met Detective Rizzoli earlier. Please, give my greetings to your mother and tell her that the croissant was exquisite."

Jane laughed. "I'm sure she will be happy to hear that."

Suddenly, Frankie Rizzoli tumbled through the door, and crashed into the young M.E, sending them both to the ground.

A perfect first impression.

* * *

 **Hey again! So this Maura is socially-awkward, and doesn't know how to handle most social situations. That's why her colleagues label her as the queen of the dead, confusing her introversion with coldness.**

 **I think Jane can easily be understood, same with the other characters.**

 **I hope you like it so far!**

 **Reviews warm my heart and make me write faster ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Oh my god guys! I never thought you would like this story so much! I never got so much feedback before! Well, I hope you will like this as much as you liked the first two chapters! If you want to see something specific happening in the story, do not hesitate to tell me! I am trying my best to answer all the reviews (even though I cannot with the guests, but know that your reviews are read and greatly appreciated). Constructive criticism is welcomed as well :)**

 **Without further ado, enjoy!**

* * *

Frankie sat up, rubbing his head. He looked around him, squinting, a throbbing headache starting to form at the base of his skull. Where was he again? Oh right, the precinct. He was about to deliver the news that they finally had a case, but instead fell to the ground, dragging someone else with him. What a way to humiliate himself in front of the whole squad, and the analysts.

'There goes my chance to ask the hot girl out.' He thought, face palming. Nina was really hot, and sweet, and in all, perfect. He screwed it up big time.

He looked up at his colleagues, waiting for them to explode in laughter, but was surprised when he was met by silent stares.

He looked beside him to the ground, finally remembering that someone else had fallen with him, and saw a young woman, maybe a year or two younger than he was. She was on her side, holding her wrist, and trembling slightly.

'Shit, well done Frankie.' He immediately stumbled to his feet, and cleared his throat, extending a hand to help out the young woman.

"Hey… Um, I'm so sorry… Do you- Um, need any h-help?" He stuttered, as he saw the whole precinct glare at him, along with Nina.

The woman sat up painfully, still holding her wrist.

Korsak and Frost immediately helped her up, everybody else rushing to them.

"Are you okay, doctor?"

"Is everything alright, doc?"

And, "we should get this wrist checked out," echoed in the room.

Frankie raised an eyebrow, waiting for someone to explain to him what the hell just happened.

Jane, his older sister, helped him up (well, she dragged him up by his ear would be a more exact description), and took him far from the others.

"What the freaking hell were you thinking?!" She slapped him on the back of the head.

"OUCH! What was that for?!"

"For nearly killing the new chief medical examiner!"

"Shit."

"You said it." Jane sighed, and punched him in the shoulder. Hard. "What a way for her to start her first day. You better go apologize before I drag you there by your underwear. Or worse, I'll tell Ma. She already has her under her wing."

Frankie gulped. Everything, and I mean everything, but his Ma.

He looked back where the others were standing. The new M.E had a tight smile on her face, still massaging her wrist, and was talking with Frost and Korsak. The others were already back at their posts, but they still managed to sneak glares at him. Apparently, bumping into new female coworkers was badly seen in the homicide dept.

Frankie looked at his sister, who was looking back at him with a certain (very high) degree of annoyance.

He chuckled, embarrassed, trying to lighten up the mood. "I didn't nearly kill her. I merely bumped into her."

"Bumped?! For all we know, she may have a brain condition! Like an aneurysm! Maybe it burst! Maybe she's bleeding into her brain right now!"

"Now you're just being dramatic. You watch way too much Grey's Anatomy."

"Okay maybe. Go apologize now."

"Okay! Fine! Geez…"

He went back towards the two detectives and the doctor, who were still discussing quietly among themselves.

He gulped when he arrived in front of her. What should he do now?! To be honest, the woman scared him shitless. She was glaring at him coldly, and even though she was more than a head shorter than he was, she still towered over him somehow. The way she held herself proudly, chin high up, her presence was just… Majestic.

Jane noticed too, and chuckled under her breath. The French effect, they call it.

"Hi… Um… Ahem… I'm… I-"

He saw the M.E's glare change into confusion. "Are you suffering from Aphasia?" It was Frankie's turn to look at her in confusion, along with the three detectives.

"Or maybe some sort of stroke? Seizure?"

Frankie was about to speak up, because he didn't understand a word of what the woman just said.

"Or a transient ischemic attack? TIA manifests itself in numbness and paralysis, which would have caused our fall, but also slurred speech, disorientation-"

"Doc." Jane interrupted her gently, smiling. This one certainly wasn't gifted in social interactions. That was probably why she wasn't able to hold a proper conversation with her earlier this morning.

Maura looked at the ground, embarrassed, a light blush coating her cheeks. It made her look almost… Adorable. She was holding her wrist, which was a deep shade of red.

"He isn't able to speak properly because he's intimidated by you."

Maura looked at Frankie, who nodded his head, ashamed.

"Oh…" She cleared her throat. "I should get going now, my office is-"

"Maura." Jane held her back with her good wrist, and dragged her back towards the group gently. "Frankie wants to apologize."

The young M.E nodded and gulped. What happened in the morning was enough socializing for her today. She really couldn't handle more. She didn't even notice that the detective called her by her first name.

"Yeah… Um… I'm really sorry doc, I didn't see you. I was way too excited. I'm Frankie Rizzoli, by the way, Jane's bro." He grinned at her, more at ease. She didn't seem scary anymore. She just looked… A bit frightened.

"It's alright. I'm Dr. Maura Isles." She smiled a pained smile at him, and almost ran to the elevator. Before Jane could catch up with her, she was already on her way to the morgue.

The female detective sighed. "What were you excited about?" She asked her brother, who was confusedly trying to figure out what he said wrong. "She's just shy, I guess." She tried to reassure him.

"We…" He suddenly remembered the important news. "We have a case! Shit! We wasted ten minutes because of me!" He face palmed again, while the whole department glared at him for the second time that day.

"I'll go get Maura. Maybe she wants to go with us to the scene." The two detectives distractedly nodded, while they were gathering their stuff, and rushed outside the doors. Jane turned and looked at her brother.

"You are definitely not coming."

"But-"

Jane didn't hear the end of his sentence, as she was already on her way to get Maura.

She arrived to the morgue, and took the sight in. It had changed so much since Dr. Ramsey was gone, and Maura had only been here for two hours. It wasn't disorganized and dirty anymore.

Ramsey was the kind of M.E who didn't care about his employees and the sanitary state of his working place. He only wanted to get it over with, so he could go home and stuff his face with booze. His office always had empty beer bottles lying on the ground, with papers everywhere and his boots on the table.

Maura obviously did a good job fixing his mistakes. The scientists' liberty of planning what to do on their own wasn't how Maura liked to work, it seemed. For the past five years, they have been disorganized, messy and overwhelmed, without a proper boss to guide them. Right now, the employees were all bustling by in the lab as if they were given specific orders. It was clear that Maura was much more organized.

Five years they have been putting up with the guy's messy habits. Finally someone who knew what they were doing.

She passed by the autopsy room. Pristine clean, like she expected it to be. But it was still a very disturbing sight. Ramsey never cleaned up the autopsy room, and the cleaning people never set foot in there because the doctor always criticized their work.

She finally arrived in front of a dark, wooden door, with the name "Dr. Maura Isles" written in beautiful golden cursives on it.

She knocked, and a soft "come in" was heard almost immediately. She didn't hear Ramsey's usual shuffling to hide his beer bottles. She sighed in deep satisfaction and stepped in.

And boy, what a sight it was.

* * *

 **Well, I hope this lived up to your expectations! Reviews warm my heart and make me really happy :)**

 **Again, thank you for being such kind people!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello there! Sorry for the long wait guys, but I was at a party two days ago, and I drank a bit, and I didn't want to write and post anything crazy, so I didn't write anything, and yesterday, well I was just lazy. Anyways, here is the chapter you were all waiting for! I hope you'll like it!**

* * *

Dr. Ramsey's office was entirely redecorated with a beautiful, artistic taste. The walls were painted by a beige color, masking their hideous, previously blue one. African masks and paintings from all around the world were hung up, and Jane wondered how Maura managed to do that in only two hours.

She then looked at the center of the room, where the medical examiner was smiling softly at her, in all of her glorious beauty.

"I take it you like my office?"

"I do, it's- wow. How did you manage to do all that?!" Jane gestured to the walls around her, and the soft, plush beanbag in the corner of the room.

There also were two sofas and huge shelves, with dozens of books stacked neatly by alphabetical order.

"I have some connections." Maura said, and Jane looked at her, unconvinced. "In other words, I threw Doctor Ramsey out to have time to redecorate and correct the awful taste mistakes he made."

"I didn't know you could do 'taste mistakes'." Jane smirked at her, and the doctor huffed.

"Well, he could. Anyways, what can I do for you, detective?"

"Oh, right." Jane almost facepalmed. "We have a case. Would you like to come on the scene or just send your team over?"

"I would like to analyze it all personally, if you don't mind."

Jane nodded, and gallantly opened the door for the doctor to get out, and got a brilliant smile as a thank you that made her day.

They got to the scene, and were surprised to see helicopters, and people in bungee jumping attire.

"What the…" Jane muttered, and looked at Maura, who seemed equally confused.

Korsak approached them, his face grim.

"Bus fell off the edge and tumbled down into the river. There is no apparent way to get down there, other than helicopters and ropes."

Jane swallowed. She hated heights. She turned over to look at the doctor worriedly, but found her already getting herself attached by the waist to a rope.

"What the hell are you doing?!" She approached the younger woman, who was being given security advice on how to handle herself if the rope snapped.

"I'm going to inspect my victims." Maura answered, as if it were obvious.

"By going down there?!" Jane seemed mortified.

"I have done much worse before. Gone into contaminated areas, underwater autopsies in the ocean…" Maura took her medical bag and made her way to the edge. "Now if you'll excuse me…" And without letting Jane get a word in, she jumped.

"Holy-" Jane almost screamed and ran toward the edge, preparing herself mentally to see the doctor bent into awkward angles, bleeding down in the ravine. Instead, the young woman was using the cliff as a support to make her way down slowly. It seemed like she has done it before.

"I'm not going down there." She heard Frost mumble behind her.

"Me neither…"

After long hours of searching and digging up bodies which someway found themselves five feet under the bus, everything was brought back to the lab, for further analysis. Maura was cautiously directing everything, not to leave a single clue behind.

She was doing an autopsy on the youngest body she found –a mere five years old– when the doors opened.

She didn't have time to turn around before somebody took a hold of her and put their hands in front of her eyes. She started to panic, and to kick back at the intruder, but quickly calmed down as she heard, "guess who?"

She immediately smiled, recognizing his voice. She can recognize it anywhere.

"Charlie!" She screamed in excitement, and immediately turned around to hug him. He laughed and hugged her back, before releasing her and steadying her at arm length. He took a good, long look at her, before he sighed lovingly.

"Look at you… You have changed so much."

She smiled cheekily before doing the same to him.

"You cut your hair." She noticed. "It is much better than before."

"I know, right? I mean, how did you let me wear it in a ponytail, for god's sake?!"

"Like you listened to me!" She looked at him with indignation, before bursting out in laughter when she saw him pout.

"Well, whatcha doing?"

"Autopsies. This one is only five. Can you believe it?" She sighed sadly, slowly caressing the young girl's hair.

"Gone way too soon. Poor little thing." Charlie nodded, his eyes sad. "I learned about the case on TV. Are you ruling it accidental?"

"I am waiting for the driver's tox screen and a report on the full investigation of the bus to come back. It will take at least two hours." He nodded, then brightened at the prospect of having her for himself for two hours.

"So you're free?"

"Well, yes." She laughed when he raised a closed fist in the air, a childlike excitement on his face. "Coffee at the cafe?"

"I was thinking more ice cream, but sure." He smiled, and offered her his arm.

She took off her gloves and gladly took it, directing them to her office to change her clothes, before they headed towards the cafe.

Angela was serving her customers as usual –meaning, with sarcastic comments and curses muttered under her breath– when she saw her new favorite client enter the cafe with a man.

She took her time to study them, as they sat on the table near the back, not ready to order yet.

She saw Maura's hazel –or was it green?– eyes lighten up every time the young man laughed. She saw her beautiful honey-blond hair go left and right with every shake of her head at his silliness. She seemed to be having the time of her life, and so was the gentleman.

His blue eyes were looking at her lovingly, his hand often finding its way through his raven black hair. His chiseled jaw and classy features reminded her of one of those princes in the movies.

She was still looking at them when she heard someone clear their throat. "You've always told me it is rude to stare, Ma." She turned around to see her daughter, Jane, looking at her smugly. She slapped her on the arm.

"Do not talk to me like that young lady."

Jane raised her hands in the air in mock surrender, before looking at what her mother seemed to find so interesting.

"Worried about her? You've only known her for like, five minutes."

"It only took this much to conceive you." Angela crossed her arms, satisfied when she saw her daughter's look of disgust.

"EW, MA!"

The whole cafe turned to stare at them. "What are you looking at?!" Jane screamed, and they all scrambled back to their business, except Maura and the man sitting with her, who were both laughing at them openly.

The young couple approached them, and Jane felt uncomfortably nervous around the young man Maura seemed so attached to.

"Jane! Hi! And hello to you too, Angela." Maura smiled her magical dimpled smile at the women, and they both melted on the inside.

"Hello sweetie, what can I do for ya?"

"We would like some ice cream pancakes if that's possible." Charlie answered politely, Maura emphasizing his sentence with a nod of her head.

"Nothing is impossible for my little Maur!" The older woman smiled before she ran back to the kitchen to get them their order.

"Well, charming everybody on your first day, I see!" Charlie laughed, and side-hugged Maura with one arm.

She laughed, and looked up at him. "Did you have any doubts?" He chuckled. "Well, Charlie, this is Detective Jane Rizzoli. She's…"

Seeing that the doctor was at loss of words, Jane cleared her throat.

"Her friend. I'm Maura's friend. And you are?"

"I'm Dr. Charles Hoyt. Pleased to meet you, Detective Rizzoli."

* * *

 **Dun dun dun! I hope you like those mini cliffhangers at the end of every chapter! ;)**

 **So what do you think of this?**

 **Do you want to see anything specific happening?** **If you have anything to tell me, PM me or review! Reviews warm up my heart :3**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! Sorry this is a bit shorter than usual, but it seemed to fit like that. Anyways, I want to thank you for all the wonderful feedback I have been getting, especially from those couple of people who have been reviewing on every chapter since I began writing this. They will recognize themselves ;)**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Jane was sitting on her desk, trying to figure out why she felt so… Uncomfortable near Maura's friend. The guy seemed very friendly, and he was sexy too. So what _the hell_ made her babble nonsense at him and-

"It wasn't an accident." The chief M.E entered the precinct in a hurry, dropping a file on Jane's desk.

"What?" Korsak immediately stood up, Frost quickly following. The two of them gathered around the doctor, who cleared her throat.

"The bus was tampered with. The brakes were, to be exact."

"So we can rule it a mass murder?" Jane frowned, thinking about all the twenty-four kids, two teachers, and bus driver who died.

"It is definitely a homicide."

"Well, it is two in the morning. Do we want to stay and work on it further or go home and sleep?" Frost asked, rubbing his eyes.

"All in favor of sleep?"

They all nodded, and the detectives started gathering their stuff.

Before Maura got out of the room, Jane elbowed her playfully. "I'm sure _someone_ isn't going to get a lot of sleep tonight."

Maura frowned, and Jane suddenly wondered if she didn't cross her limits with the younger woman. They weren't friends, after all. Her comment was very out of place. She scanned Maura's face to see any anger or discomfort, and was relieved when she found none. But, there was something along the lines of confusion?

"I do not know what you mean, Jane." She raised an eyebrow, waiting for the detective to elaborate.

Jane looked at Maura, wondering how the woman survived until now in society. She obviously is oblivious to ninety percent of jokes, sexual innuendo, and anything that isn't _literal_.

She also wondered how they got on a first name basis so fast. They only met this morning, yet she felt… _At ease_ with this woman. It almost creeped her out.

"I meant… Um… Are you gonna have fun with your… Friend?" She winked, grinning.

"Oh," Maura laughed softly. "Yes, probably. I think we're going to play Hospital and read all night long." Her eyes were sparkling with excitement at the prospect of doing that with Charles.

"Ohhhh!" Jane felt her heart speed up at the thought of both of them doing… Yuck. But she tried to mirror the doctor's excitement. "Some dirty, _dirty_ stuff."

"What?" Maura's confusion was obvious this time.

"You're going to play Hospital…? Maura, focus with me." Seeing the doctor still looking at her blankly, Jane almost facepalmed. "Maura, I'm asking if you're gonna have sex tonight!"

The doctor took a while to process that information, and Jane braced herself to be scolded and pushed out of the doctor's life completely. She _really_ crossed her boundaries this time around. She reminded herself of her mother. She shuddered at the thought.

Maura's face showed utter disgust, then she burst out in laughter.

" _Oh Jane!_ " She wiped her tears from her eyes, and took some calming breaths. It was Jane's turn to be confused.

"What? What did I say?"

" _Hospital is a board game!"_ Maura laughed even harder at Jane's face. "Charlie's my older brother."

"Oh." Jane's cheeks flushed in total embarrassment. She just asked someone, whom she hoped to be friends with, if she was gonna have sex with her brother tonight. _'Way to go detective.'_

"Don't worry, you couldn't have known. It's true that Charlie and I look nothing alike, but that is from the fact that I was adopted by the Hoyt family."

"Oh." Jane wasn't able to utter another word. She felt so dumb right there, in front of the sophisticated, clever woman she has been trying to impress since she saw her. She didn't know _why_ , though.

"Okay, well, I'll see you tomorrow, detective." Maura took her file and her handbag, and made her way towards the door.

"Wait!" Jane screamed, then almost hit herself on the head. She's going to embarrass herself, _again._ "Maura, I was wondering if… You know… We could…"

"I would love to have dinner sometime with you, Jane." Maura immediately brightened at the prospect, as if she read Jane's thought.

"How did you…"

Maura laughed. "Tomorrow night at my place?" She really isn't at ease in social situations, even if it a one on one conversation, the only exception being work talk and when she's with her family. But she felt like she could trust Jane, and be herself around her. Which, believe me, doesn't happen often.

"S-sure…"

"I'll text you the address." Maura continued walking towards the door, then stopped abruptly and turned around to look at Jane.

"Are we…" Her previous confidence seemed to have worn off. "Are we… Friends?" She asked Jane, as if the word was a completely unknown notion to her.

Jane raised an eyebrow. She could ask her why the word 'friend' made her so... vulnerable, tomorrow night, since they are _friends_ now. "Yeah, yeah we are, doc."

Maura's eyes could light up the entire globe at that instant.

"I would really like to get to know you better. I'm sure Ma's gonna be happy about it."

"Angela? Why?"

"She loves you already and told me to keep an eye on you."

"That is _very_ sweet of you two. It makes me feel… Welcome here. Something that doesn't happen often."

"Why?" Jane's concern was easily readable on her face.

The doctor smiled softly. "Tomorrow night."

Suddenly, Jane's phone rang. She answered, not taking her yes off that younger woman. She was smiling when she answered by a simple "Hello?" instead of her usual "Detective Rizzoli."

As the call progressed, Maura noticed the color draining from the detective's face, her eyes going wide with terror.

When Jane hung up, her face was a mask of determination. She turned to her two colleagues, who were still here, tying loose ends before going home.

"Guys. The Surgeon is back."

* * *

 **I really hope you liked this!**

 **So now you know that Hoyt is Maura's adoptive big brother :O What do you think will happen next?**

 **Oh, and as an answer to this very special guest who attempted to teach me a Fiction Writing 101 course in the reviews, I know what a cliffhanger is, thank you very much, and I love using them. Problem with that? Stop reading this story :)**

 **Oh and if you think it is unprofessional, look at all the published _bestsellers_ which end in cliffhangers, then come back and make your point :)**

 **Thank you guys some much. Review! They make me very happy :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi guys! Sorry it's been so long, but I have been very busy with school preparations and stuff like that! I start September 26, so I may be too busy to write as often as now, sorry! I hope you like this chapter! Nothing really happens, just a little explaining about the Surgeon case, which is different from the TV show. Oh, and no, Jane wasn't abducted by the guy. He prefers to stay in the dark. Or does he?**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

"The Surgeon is back guys." Jane said with a wavering voice, sitting down in her chair when the importance of her words hit her.

He was back.

Korsak and Frost both had a look of terror on their faces.

"Who's the surgeon?" Maura asked, completely oblivious to the tension in the room. Korsak looked up at her, and cleared his throat. He opened one of his drawers and got out a box, which had _many_ files, papers, photos, all staked on each other in it.

"The Surgeon's one of the most difficult to catch serial killers I've seen during my time here at the precinct. And believe me, it has been a _long_ time."

Maura nodded wordlessly, starting to understand why the three detectives were so troubled by his reappearance.

Frost rolled the case-reconstruction board towards them, cleared it out of ancient case photos and information, and started writing things they already know about the guy, putting up photos of his known victims.

"We don't know who he is. We do not know his motive, we do not know what connection he has to the victims, nor what ties the victims together. In short, we know _nothing_ about the guy. We do not even know if he _is_ a guy." Frost sighed, and leaned on his chair. They all somehow silently agreed not to go home right then.

Maura nodded, examining the board. She already hated the guy.

"He somehow always is a step ahead of us. He knows our every move, so he can evade us easily, the son of a-"

"We do know that he has _extensive_ medical and surgical knowledge."

"I guessed that. M.O?" Maura stated professionally, sitting in Frost's chair, waiting for them to continue.

Jane cringed. "Here's where it gets grim. He apparently has the medical records of all of his victims. He notices an illness, he cuts up the person 'to fix it up', then doesn't stitch back up. He leaves the person to bleed out."

"What the…" The young M.E frowned at the weird method, then shrugged. She has seen worse.

"How does he get the medical records? Did you check the doctors of the victims?"

"Yes, all of them had different doctors, who don't know each others. The victims didn't know each others either, and none of them has a common doctor."

"Then they were hacked. Did you try to trace it?"

"Yes. Guy's a pro. An IP address from Turkey, which led me to another IP address in Afghanistan, which lead me to another, and so on. I used an algorithm to try to get the original, courtesy of the NSA cryptology dept, but it was a dead end."

"How so?"

"A Lebanese IP address."

"How did he…"

"It's out of our reach. Plus, it was from an open wifi at a cafe, frequented by thousands of people."

"A huge dead end."

"Yes. We tried tracing calls made by doctors, surgeons, every single person that _may_ have medical knowledge to Lebanon, but we turned up millions of results. No way to round that up. Before you can suggest that, we tried to see if the doctors of our victims have any ties with someone in the country, but they don't. We tried _everything._ Seems like our guy picks up his victims randomly."

"Okay so, if he does pick them up randomly, then he doesn't know their names. He would have to follow them or google them or something, then reach out to his contact in Lebanon, give him the names so he can get the medical records, correct? Assuming he doesn't make the travel back and forth every time, and that he has a contact, not a fake IP address." Maura noticed that it was a lot of assuming, which was so unlike her, but they didn't' have anything on the guy. She couldn't see the case advancing without a little supposition. Then, she thought back about the may-be-fake IP and wondered who is intelligent enough to evade a NSA cryptology department special algorithm.

"Yes, exactly. We tried CCTV footage, Google search history of every single we can think of, nothing. The guy's smart. And we tried to see if there are doctors, medical students, nurses on the planes to America from Lebanon around the time of the murders. Hundreds of people, all of them turned out clean. Then he either has a contact, or a fake IP strong enough to evade the NSA."

"Exactly what I was thinking. He's a genius, it seems. But so am I." Maura tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Did you try the cafe's search history?"

"Yeah, we tried. But the history is deleted every two hours. Plus, our warrants don't have any effect there. We would have to go there and ask the homeland security for help. Which they wouldn't be willing to give since they have enough on their plates already."

Maura nodded, understanding.

"Then, if he was not following them randomly, then he must have somewhere where he meets all of his victims. Did you see if they frequent the same bar, spa, anything?"

"Nope, nothing. Our victims do not have anything in common. And I mean _anything_. Each victim is different. Different age, sex, ethnicity, race, job. All of them were American though."

"It could be a coincidence."

"I'm a 100% sure it is a coincidence."

Maura sighed, and rubbed her temples. She looked at Korsak and Jane, who have been silent for a while. They had somber looks on their faces, their positions mirroring each other, both of them leaning on their desks with their arms crossed.

She glanced at the clock and found it was already 3:30am. She sighed.

"Guys, we should really go home. A good night of sleep will help us see this with a fresh perspective."

"The doc's right." Jane stretched, wincing when she heard her back pop. "We should go home and relax." The three nodded, and they started to gather their things again.

"May I take those with me? To get familiar with the case?" Maura asked, gesturing to the box containing all the evidence and files related to the Surgeon case.

"Of course."

The young doctor gathered the box in her arms and made her way to the elevator, but not before stopping and throwing a tired "Goodnight detectives."

"Goodnight doc." The three of them answered at the same time, heading to the other elevator.

Maura got home in a hurry, eager to start reading and documenting herself on the case. She already had a little idea on where they should look next, but didn't want to jump to conclusions before autopsying the new victim and making sure the detectives didn't already look that way.

She entered the house, and closed the door as silently as possible behind her, but jumped when she saw Charlie sitting on the couch, a glass of wine in his hand.

"Charlie! Why are you still up?"

He jumped too; apparently startled that he didn't hear her come in.

He ran towards her, and immediately hugged her. "I was so worried about you, god. Maura what were you thinking?!"

"What?" She asked him, confused, as he checked every part of her for injury.

"I was watching the news and heard about this crazy serial killer who's killed again! And you didn't come back when you told me you would and you weren't answering your phone and-"

"Charlie." She spoke gently, and took his hands in hers. "I'm alright. Plus, I do not see why this person would be interested in me."

"He chooses his victims _randomly_ , Maur." He sighed, passing a hand in his hair. "Anyways, please answer your phone next time."

"I will."

He looked at her face, searching for any lies and smiled when he didn't find any, like usual. He looked at her neck, and saw it was pale, like the rest of her body, hives-free. So she wasn't lying.

The box she deposed on the counter caught his eye. "Do not tell me you're staying awake all night to read those."

She smiled sheepishly and muttered a "no?" that sounded like a question more than a statement.

He sighed. "Why am I not surprised."

She chuckled, and kissed him on the cheek.

"I'll be in my room if you need me."

She took her box, and made her way upstairs. She was determined to catch this killer.

* * *

 **Hope you guys liked this! Constructive criticism is welcome!**

 **Reviews make me feel loved and make me write A LOT faster :3**


	7. Chapter 7

**To VeryJadedFan: thank you.**

* * *

The next day, Cavanaugh strode in, anger replacing the usual grin on his face. The whole department turned to look at him as soon as he set foot in the room, as per habit. His confidence, and superior air always managed to do that.

"Listen up people. I want you to solve the bus mass murder as soon as possible. Federals are up our asses for The Surgeon case, so we need to be 100% focused on him."

"Yes chief!" They all hollered.

He nodded, satisfied, and went back to his office.

Jane, sighed, then went back to reading about potential suspects in the bus case.

There were 27 people in this bus when it tumbled down. Twenty seven. Needless to say, there were a lot of suspects. And anybody could've tampered with the brakes of a car, only by googling the proceedure. So they were looking for anyone, really.

Plus, she wasn't giving it her all. Her focus was on the Surgeon.

The same pattern. He would kill a victim, wait a certain amount of time, which didn't normally exceed six months, then kill again. She wondered how, or maybe why they weren't able to catch him yet.

'He's way too intelligent for lowlives like us.'

She reminded herself of the message he left them next to his last victim. It insulted the whole homicide department, which only served to fuel their already raging fire.

'Way too intelligent, my ass. We have Maura Isles now. What do ya have, sucker?!'

She wanted to scream her frustrations out, but she kept her cool, and reminded herself that the bus case was their priority, for now.

That made her mind wander towards the new M.E. She was a mystery, and a lovely one at that. And Jane loved mysteries, she always had. She would read crime novels and always solve them before reading the ending. This curiosity is what primarily pushed her to become a Detective in the first place. Sure, crawling up the ranks of the Force had been tough, but she made it. She still didn't have a single unsolved case (excluding the Surgeon one). And she wasn't going to let Maura Isles become the first one.

The young woman was clearly not very comfortable in social situations. She could see it in her eyes when she would talk to her. But, when that man was rude to her mother in the cafeteria, Maura stood up to him like a boss. And she was also very capable when confronted with a work situation. Jane sighed. If she could handle colleagues and work talk, why couldn't she handle friends and small talks? At least acquaintances?

She decided to gather up info and what she knew about Maura Isles. Till now, she knew that she was French, or at least lived there for a while. She studied there too. She was the chief medical examiner of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, but Jane didn't know if she had any other degrees. She had a super hot brother, whose name was Charles, and who was a doctor, apparently.

And... that was it. That was all she knew about the doctor.

Oh, and that she had good taste, in decoration and fashion. There, that was all.

Jane passed her hand through her hair, frustrated. If she couldn't figure out one woman, how could she solve the Surgeon's complex way of thinking? And then there was the bus thing. Don't get her started on that.

She sighed again, but her day brightened up at the prospect of having dinner at Maura's tonight. Oh, she couldn't wait to add missing pieces to the puzzle that was Doctor Maura Isles.

* * *

 **Sorry this was kinda tiny but I promise you all a 2k chapter when I come back from Greece. So you just have to wait a week. See you then! I apologize for the long wait, but life was in the way and I wasn't feeling very good these past months, with finals and my anxiety and all. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello and welcome back to a new chapter of TWAH! Here I am, exactly at the promised time, right after my one week vacation. For anyone wondering, it was awesome. Anyway, also as promised, this is a 2k-long chapter. I hope you will enjoy it!**

* * *

Jane spent all day trying to make some progress in The Surgeon case. Her efforts didn't amount to anything.

But, on the bright side, they had solved the bus case. Apparently, it was a woman who held a grudge against one of the student's parents. It was sick and twisted, but Jane has seen worse. She knew how to stay cool in front of this kind of situations.

She sighed contently when she finally closed her laptop, and got up from her desk, stretching her sore back muscles. She gathered her stuff, thinking about the cold beer she was gonna have when she's back home, with maybe some pizza, and a Sox game. Yeah, that seemed like heaven for her.

Then something in her head clicked. Shit. Dinner at Maura's. Shit. _Shit._

She had completely forgotten. How the hell could she forget that dinner? She has been thinking about it all day. Oh, Lord. What the hell was she gonna _wear_?!

She cursed rapidly in Italian under her breath, then had an idea.

"Frost!" She yelled at him, so he could hear her from where he was sitting inside the Analyst's glass room. She briefly wondered why their offices were a hundred times better than theirs, then shook her head. That wasn't important right now. She needed to find something to wear in the next... She looked at her watch, her eyes widening almost comically. IN THE NEXT 30 MINUTES! She had only 30 minutes to prepare for her dinner. Shit. She can't even manage to keep her showers under 40 minutes!

His head whipped towards her, a look of alarm in his eyes. He quickly got up from his chair and bolted towards her, worried.

"WHAT? ARE YOU OKAY?" He yelled frantically, not even attracting attention. The other detectives were used to Jane and Frost's shenanigans by now.

"NO!" She almost sobbed. She lowered her voice, so the other detectives couldn't hear her. "Maura invited me to dinner tonight and I completely forgot and I don't have anything to wear!"

Frost stroked his chin thoughtfully, not even surprised that Jane forgot the dinner. His friend had the smallest gold fish memory he has ever seen.

"Okay, we have to improvise. Do you have any old dresses that look new?"

Jane raised an eyebrow at him as if saying 'do you even know me?'

"Of course, you don't have any dress. What was I expecting? It's you." He rolled his eyes. "Do you have anything at least presentable? Anything other than work clothes and red sox jerseys?"

Jane shook her head sheepishly.

"Course you don't." He sighed, looking briefly at the ceiling. "Then come on, we're going shopping."

* * *

I can't believe you are taking me shopping in the police cruiser," Jane grumbled in the front seat, while Frost was driving.

He shot her a dark look. "There is no other car available since mine is at the mechanic's and yours is with your mother. Still, can't believe you lent it to her willingly."

Jane groaned. "I didn't." She shifted uncomfortably in the seat, before sighing. "Do we really have to?"

"Do you want to have dinner at the super hot ME's house in a red sox jersey?" He glared, then spoke before she could answer. "Don't even answer that."

Jane rolled her eyes. "Why do you know more about shopping than I do?"

"Because I am a respectable person who cares about my appearance and first impressions. Besides, I've always thought women were obsessed with shopping until I met you."

Jane smiled. "You love me."

"Sadly I do. That's why I am taking you shopping."

* * *

NO! I am NOT wearing this shit!" Jane screamed for the tenth time since they went out. Twenty minutes had already passed, and they still hadn't found a dress yet.

"Jane! It's beautiful!" Frost insisted, holding the dress in front of him almost reverently. It was his favorite till now, and he was determined to convince Jane to wear it.

It was a simple, short black dress, with a lace hem. It was classy, and not too girly, an excellent match for Jane. Yet, she was refusing it, simply because, well, it was a dress, and her ego didn't allow her to wear a dress.

"Jesus Christ woman, just try the damn thing on!" Frost yelled, at last, making Jane sigh.

"Fine. But I'm not buying it." She grumbled, snatching the dress, and making her way towards the dressing room.

Frost smirked after she disappeared behind the curtain. Oh, she was _so_ buying it.

* * *

"They hurt my feet, Frost!" Jane whined, looking at her poor feet, encrusted in black kitten heels.

"For God's Sake, Jane, those are _kitten heels_. They're not even real heels. Stop whining, wear the damn pair, and let me drive you to Dr. Isles' place."

Jane grumbled, putting the heels on. She stood up, feeling unsteady, but managed to walk a few steps towards her mirror to take a look at herself.

She whistled appreciatively. She almost didn't recognize herself. Since when did she have those killer hips? Damn, if she were another person, she would definitely have a crush on herself.

She looked at Frost's reflection in the mirror, standing behind her, grinning at her proudly.

"You're ready, my child."

"Shut up, Frost."

* * *

Jane walked towards Dr. Isles' front door, a nervous smile on her face, which made her lips seem lopsided and weird.

Frost gave her thumbs up from where he was sitting in the cruiser, then drove away.

"Damn it frost." She muttered under her breath and decided to take her time, to calm down.

She took a deep breath, studying her surroundings. Maura's house could put Jane's entire apartment building to shame. It was big, elegant, charming, and so, _so_ Maura.

Jane's smile turned into a more endeared one when she was a small dog sleeping on the lawn in front of the house. It was a puppy golden retriever, and Jane felt the need to steal it and run away with it. She never particularly liked dogs, but this one was just adorable.

The dog's ears perked up, and it sprang to his paws, looking at her, alarmed. It started barking, its tiny voice way too cute for anyone to be afraid.

Jane awed but jumped back in surprise when the front door opened to reveal Charles, Maura's older brother.

"Adrien, are you- Oh, hi Detective Rizzoli."

Jane managed an awkward wave and a chuckle.

"Please, come in." He raised an intrigued eyebrow at her.

Jane cursed at herself again. A wave? A fucking wave?! What the fuck Rizzoli?

"Maura!" Charles raised his voice slightly while calling his sister. "You have a visitor."

"Coming!" The ME screamed back.

"I'll leave you ladies alone. My shift at the hospital is starting soon." He winked at Jane, which made her turn a deep shade of red.

 _'Damn, he's handsome, but not as much as- oh my dear god.'_

She gulped, feeling her throat tighten when she saw Maura descending the stairs.

She didn't even notice Charles ushering the dog inside before leaving, nor the hastily thrown stare her way.

The ME was wearing a white dress, with a pattern of black roses all over it, linked to each other by the stems. It was sophisticated, and suddenly, Jane felt way too underdressed.

She felt her heart jump in her chest when the ME smiled at her, and she managed a weak smile back.

Maura hurried down the stairs, a large smile on her face.

"Jane! You made it! You look absolutely stunning." She stood in front of her, and Jane realized that she was about to hug her, but was hesitating because _it's Maura._

Jane took the first step and hugged her, whispering a thank you in her ear, making Maura giggle.

"What?" Jane asked, confused.

"I'm ticklish," Maura answered sheepishly, before inviting her to sit.

 _'Noted.'_ Jane thought, smirking to herself. Thankfully, Maura did not seem to notice.

She poured them both some expensive wine, and Jane had to swallow back the urge to ask for a beer. She didn't want to seem rude.

They talked for a while about the precinct, and how Maura was integrating.

They also talked a bit about the Rizzoli family, how Angela and Jane's father had divorced when she was a teenager, and since then, the family of now four was much happier.

Maura seemed excited about the prospect of meeting the fourth Rizzoli someday, which endeared Jane to the point that she invited her to the next Sunday dinner at her Ma's place. She was certain her Ma wouldn't mind, but it's just been so long since anyone other than the Rizzolis, Korsak, and Frost joined them.

The whole evening was wonderful, better than Jane had ever imagined in the multiple scenarios she had been running in her head all day.

Maura was a sensible, sophisticated human being. The adorable puppy was a he, and his name was Adrien. Maura adopted him from the shelter when she moved to Boston, which Jane found admirable.

She hated, and feared to admit it, but she was beginning to form a crush on the sweet ME. Now, Jane Rizzoli had a policy. Never fall for a straight girl. _Never_. Look at her now, practically drooling as she looked at Maura's dancing form, while she worked on preparing the dinner at the rhythm of a Celine Dion song. Not only was she hot, had amazing taste, and was a genius, but she was also a Celine Dion listener. To Jane, she was perfect.

Then she realized that Maura was talking to her, and she didn't hear a word. "Excuse me, what?"

Maura laughed. "I was simply asking if you ever had Ratatouille."

"Well, I watched the movie, if that counts." Jane joked, proud of herself when Maura laughed harder.

"Oh, Jane. No, of course, it doesn't. Come on. The appetizers, soup, salad, and first dish are already on the table."

She ushered her towards the chair on the right of her own, at the head of the table.

"You had time to do all of _that_ right now?" Jane gasped, impressed.

Maura merely smiled. "French cuisine is simpler than it seems."

"So... If the Ratatouille is the first dish... What's the second?" Jane asked after a while of them eating in a comfortable silence.

Maura shook her head. "It's not called a second dish; it's called the main course. Usually, Ratatouille is served as that. But I wanted to make you taste something else I particularly like. Coq au Vin. It's chicken marinated in red wine."

When Jane failed to hide her disgusted expression, Maura smiled. "I noticed that you don't like wine. Don't worry, it's really good, and tastes only faintly of it. Oh, and if you wanted beer, you could have just asked."

She got up, and got a beer can, opening it for Jane.

The detective took it gratefully, chugging down a big gulp. "Oh thank god. I didn't want to seem rude, you know, rejecting that expensive wine."

"Expensive?" Maura laughed. "It's only a 2010 Conterno Fantino Barolo Sori Ginestra."

"Meaning?"

"Only a 100$ the bottle!" Maura answered excitedly, and Jane decided not to comment on Maura's notion of 'cheap'.

Cheap, for Jane, is a six-pack for 10$, at most. Not a hundred bucks worth of wine.

They continued talking about everything and nothing, Jane noting how Maura only rarely talked about herself.

Jane decided to fix that.

"What about you? How's your family like?"

Maura smiled, but it was dim compared to her other smiles. "I was abandoned by my parents at the age of three. I still have faint memories of them telling me that they will be back for me, then leaving me in the orphanage. The Hoyt Family found me. They are really wealthy and well known in France."

"I imagined." Jane smiled, encouraging her to continue.

"They adopted me. They had another child, a boy, older than me. Charlie. You already met him." Maura's smile widened slightly at the mention of her brother. "Then my mother died. My father couldn't... stand... us anymore." She seemed like had trouble finding the words for the next part without making her father look like the bad guy.

"He said we reminded him too much of her. I was ten, Charlie was fourteen. He sent us to live with our aunt Charlotte in another region of France. He set up a trust fund for us, bought a yacht, and went sailing around the world. I've never seen him since. I wonder how he is doing." She continued pensively more to herself, not looking very sad about that remark.

"I'm sorry..." Jane shifted uncomfortably in her seat but then relaxed when Maura smiled at her.

"It's okay. I learned to let go."

"I'm glad." Jane smiled, then frowned when her phone rang suddenly. She looked at the screen and saw Frost's ID lighting it up.

"Excuse me, I have to take this."

Maura nodded, getting up to check on the coq au vin still in the oven.

Jane stepped into the living room, hurriedly answering the call.

"WHAT?!" She whispered/screamed angrily.

"Whoa, chill. Just wanted to see how things were going." Frost's calm voice piped up, clearly stifling a laugh.

"Fine, until you interrupted. She was just starting to open up, Frost. I had so many opportunities to gather information about her, but you probably ruined that! Thanks so much."

"You said the same thing about Christina. Remember her?"

"Look, this bitch is different. She's so stuck up, that rich brat thinks she can own everything just because-"

That's when she heard it. A tiny, barely audible sniffle.

She turned around, her eyes widening gradually, as she took in the sight in front of her.

Maura had heard Jane's side of the conversation, and she was crying.

* * *

 **Ooooh, shit is getting real. I hope this chapter met your expectations! Next chapter will be released next week, around the same time! If you want to see something in particular happen, review, and I'll take your idea into account :)**

 **Again, thanks for the huge, huge feedback this story has been getting! Already 100 follows? Wow, guys, thank you! See you next week!**


	9. Chapter 9

**You guys and welcome to a new chapter of TWAH! I hope you're liking it so far! This chapter is a bit shorter than the rest, but it is really important. You'll see why at the end. I hope this story is still living up to your expectations!**

 **By the way, sorry for not posting this earlier, but the application I use for writing crashed, and I couldn't fix it until today. Sorry :(**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Jane has never felt more ashamed or more scared in her entire life than she was feeling in that exact moment. With Maura's tear-filled eyes boring into her soul, she felt her knees go weak, and her heart beat speed up.

Oh no. Maura must've heard everything. She probably thought she was talking about her when she said that she was a stuck up brat and–

Crap.

"Maura– I can explain."

Maura's lower lip started to wobble. Then she slapped Jane. Hard.

Jane's head whipped to the side, her eyes widening. "Okay, I deserved that." She managed, going after Maura, who had retreated back to the kitchen. "Maura please, listen to me."

Maura turned to look at her, her eyes void of any emotions. In that moment, Jane got exactly why they called Maura the queen of the dead. Her stare could petrify a living person.

Jane gulped. "Maur–"

"Listen to me, and shut up." Jane nodded wordlessly. "I thought I was finally making a friend in this god-forsaken world where I can't seem to find a place. Thank you for reminding me why I chose the dead branch of medicine. So I wouldn't have to deal with people like you. You _disgust_ me, Jane. I don't ever want to see your face again, but sadly, I have to. So, if you ever come to me for anything other than work reasons, I'll have you fired."

Jane's nerves were on fire. So were her heart, and her eyes. Some kind of moisture on her cheeks told her that she was crying, but she was too dumbfounded to react.

"You– you can't do that." She heard her voice tremble. She just lost a new friend. She didn't want to lose her job too.

"Do not underestimate me, Jane Rizzoli." Maura's hands trembled, the only sign that this situation upset her. "Now, out of my house."

Jane nodded, her heart breaking even more. She gathered her purse and headed out of the door.

* * *

The next day, Frost met Jane at the entrance of the precinct, excitement shining on his face. He has been looking forward to hearing everything about the evening from Jane since he dropped her off in front of the ME's house.

When he saw Jane's face as she came closer, he understood that it didn't go well.

"Is everything okay?" He asked her as she passed by him without giving him a second glance.

He raised an eyebrow, confused, and chose to follow her.

"Jane?"

When she turned to look at him, her eyes were murderous. "It's all your damn fault."

"What?"

"Maura heard everything. Our conversation on the phone. She heard my side of it and thought we were talking about her. She kicked me out of the house and threatened to fire me if I ever talked to her about something other than the job. I fucked it up, Frost." She said the last part with such vulnerability in her voice, that he didn't have the heart to be mad at her.

"Come on, let's go for a walk." He passed an arm around her shoulders and led them both outside. He figured that if anyone needed anything from them, they would call.

They walked to the park in silence, Frost thinking about how to fix this situation, and Jane just staring in the distance.

"You know what?" Frost said after a while. "I'll talk to her."

Jane's head whipped to the side, her eyes widening. "NO!"

"Jane, I have to. It was my fault."

"NO! Frost, she can have me fired!"

"I'll not let her be a bully and threaten my best friend!"

"But, I hurt her..." Jane trailed off, her eyes filled with tears.

Frost sighed, giving Jane a one-armed hug. "I know. But she didn't want to hear any explanation. And it wasn't your fault. You weren't talking about her."

Jane sniffled, staying silent. Frost knew he got his point across. The next thing he would do when he got back to the precinct would be to talk to the Doctor, and maybe teach her a bit about how to behave socially since she seemed so clueless about that.

* * *

Frost thought that he wouldn't have any bit of sympathy for the doctor as he walked towards the morgue, but that changed drastically when he saw in what state she was in.

He felt his heart race, as his pace picked up, and he began running towards the fallen, bleeding doctor.

The ME was sprawled on the ground, both of her hands bleeding, with a message written beside her on the ground.

"Eliminating the adversity should become a sport. This was _so_ much fun."

* * *

 **Yup, this was it. I hope you liked it! Chapter 10 will be up next week! Review if you liked it, and if you have any idea you would like to see happening, don't be shy, tell me in the reviews, or in a PM! Always up for making new friends :)**

 **See you next week!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Oh my, what is happening? Another chapter? Not even a day later? Whaaaat?**

 **Yup, hi me again. Couldn't leave you guys hanging, so wrote the other chap as quickly as possible. I'm too nice *sigh***

 **Enjoy this, and don't forget to read the chapter before this one, if you didn't notice it.**

* * *

"MAURA!" Frost screamed as he lunged forward, checking the ME's pulse. He frantically patted his pockets for his cell phone, as he waited to feel a pulse, a sign of life, _anything._

But there wasn't any.

He called 911 asking for an ambulance, and started administrating CPR.

"COME ON MAURA!" He yelled, which attracted the attention of a lab worker, who was passing by in the hallway in front of the morgue.

The lab worker poked her head in the room quizzically. She had to stifle her scream when she saw the amount of blood on the floor. Her eyes traced the blood back to its source, her jaw dropping.

"Oh god." She choked, running towards the pair. "Is she-"

"I don't know." Frost looked at her gravely. "Can you go tell detective Rizzoli about this please? Hurry!"

Frost continued pounding on the ME's chest. He could make out multiple taser marks on the side of her neck. He cursed. She would be hard to bring back. Where the hell was that ambulance?!

He went on with the CPR for a while before he heard the sirens of the ambulance.

When the EMTs made their way into the room, with a defibrillator and a gurney, Frost felt a weight lift off his chest. Maybe they can save her. She hurt Jane, but she was still one of them. He won't let her die, not that easily, and without letting Jane explain exactly what happened.

An EMT gently pushed him to the side and started working on Maura, another one asking him information about her. He didn't have much to give him.

He stayed on the side, looking at the scene, with a knot in his throat.

Then he heard one of the EMTs say, "she's too far gone."

Jane arrived to the hospital, her eyes watery, and her hands shaky.

When she had arrived to the morgue, the EMTs had been already hauling Maura away, and Frost had looked like he was about to throw up. His jeans and the front of his shirt had been covered in blood, as were his hands.

He had looked at her with a haunted look in his eyes, and said: "she's too far gone."

She had refused to believe it. Maura will _not_ die before listening to Jane.

She had called down Korsak and his partner, Parkinson, to search the crime scene.

The message on the floor made her blood boil. The surgeon. That fucking son of a bitch hurt Maura because he knew she was onto him.

She must've discovered something pretty important if the Surgeon wanted her out. Jane needed to know what Maura knew.

She _needed_ Maura to live. For her guilt, and for the case.

She entered the waiting room, where she found Charles sitting in a chair, his head in his hands.

"Charles..." She approached him cautiously, her voice pained.

His head whipped up, his eyes screaming murder. "You... How dare you!"

In a flash, he was in front of her, looming over her head, with a menacing expression on his face.

"If you weren't a woman, I would've punched the living _hell_ out of you. You dare to hurt my little sister, my little Maur, then show up here?!"

"Listen to me, this was a mistake-"

"A MISTAKE? Maura spent the night crying in her bed for a mistake?! I DON'T THINK SO!"

"IT WAS!" Jane screamed finally, surprising herself by bursting into tears.

Charles took a step back, unsure. "IT WAS A MISTAKE! I wanted to rectify it, but she didn't want to hear it and now she's about to die and-"

Charles sighed, his shoulders shaking. "How was it a mistake? Explain it to me. Maybe I'll let you see her if she wakes up."

Jane didn't comment on his use of 'if'', even though it broke her heart.

She opened her phone, thanking the gods for this call-recording app. She put the cursed conversation aloud for Charles to hear, and waited. She saw his face morph from hatred to understanding, and she knew he was on her side.

"I see..."

"Yeah..."

"Come on, sit." He mentioned the seat beside him, and handed her a cup of coffee.

"They handed me this and said, 'you should wait here sir, this is going to be a long wait.' Nice staff right?"

"The nicest." Jane smirked half heatedly. "Is she-"

"I don't know. Nobody would answer me. I work here for god's sake, and nobody would tell me if my sister is still alive."

"Well, if no one came out and told you anything, then it's kind of good news, right?"

"I guess. Means that she didn't make it, but she isn't dead. You always so optimistic?"

"Only when it comes to situations like this. The only time this happened before... was with my partner. The only other female detective in our division."

"But Maura told me you were the only female detective in you division."

"Exactly. She didn't make it. She was my best friend." She took in a deep, shuddering breath. "And now this..."

He passed a comforting arm around her shoulders, and she inhaled his scent. He reminded her of Frost. Comforting and friendly.

"I- Crap, I have to call my Ma." Jane shot up suddenly, color draining from her face.

"The nice lady from the cafe? Yeah, Maura said she kinda adopted her."

"Yup, that's my Ma alright. I have to tell her, otherwise, she would kill me."

Charles nodded his head in understanding. "Of course. I'm sure Maura would want her here. She said that she loved her already."

Jane smiled brokenly and went to the side to make the call.

It rang for a few seconds before the scared voice of Angela Rizzoli answered.

"Janie? What happened? I heard something happened to Maura."

"Yeah, Ma. Something bad happened. She's in surgery right now."

She heard her Ma choke back a sob, and her heart painfully constricted in her chest.

"Oh, my poor baby... What hospital?"

"Ma..."

"Jane..." Her voice trembled with tears. Jane already knew that she would tell her. "Please, I need to be there."

"Of course, I understand. I'll text you the address."

"Thank you, Janie."

Jane hung up, texted her Ma the details, and sighed.

She rubbed her eyes tiredly and went back to sit with Charles.

"Anything yet?" She asked though she knew the answer would be no.

Charles shook his head in the negative, his shoulders slumped.

It really was gonna be a long wait.

* * *

 **Idk if I'll kill Maura.**

 **Joking, I probably will.**

 **Gee, can't you take a joke? Calm the hell down XD**

 **Anyways hope you enjoyed this! Leave a review if you did!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi guys! Yup, it's me. I'm back from the dead. Sorry I didn't update in over, like, a year, but my mental health was a mess, and school is destroying me :) Anyway, I'm back with this new chapter! I'll hopefully write more tomorrow.**

 **By the way, Happy New Year! Yay!**

* * *

After about five hours of sitting there and staring at the wall, Jane stood up, and stretched. A yawn escaped her lips, making Charles look at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You should go. I'll call you if anything happens," he said softly.

"Nah, I'm fine," she said, a half-hearted smile on her face. She couldn't go now. What if Maura... dies, while she isn't here? Or what if she goes out of surgery and she wasn't here?

Nope, she was definitely staying.

"You know what?" She muttered after a while. "I'll take a look at the case in the mean time. Maybe the crime techs found something?"

"Good idea." He nodded, and held his head in his hands. "Maybe I should be productive too," he pondered, but didn't budge from his seat.

Jane smiled sadly, and patted his shoulder. "I'm gonna call Korsak, and have him tell me the details. Meanwhile, you go eat something. I can hear your stomach grumbling."

Charles chuckled. "Nah, I'm fine." He smirked at her, and she rolled her eyes. "Go call Korsak, and update me."

"Sure thing." She strolled off to the same spot where she called her Ma, who was showering at home, and was planning to return wait with them as soon as she finished.

She dialed Korsak's number, and waited. After a few seconds, he picked up the phone with a casual 'Korsak'.

"Hey, it's Jane. Do we have anything?" She pressed, the urgency in her voice evident.

She heard Korsak sigh. "Nope. He was as meticulous as always. We found signs of struggle, Dr. Isles fought back hard."

Jane smiled at that. "Yeah, she's tough." She winced, remembering the slap from yesterday.

"There are no cameras in the autopsy room, but we know she was autopsying the Surgeon's victim."

"Maybe she discovered something?" Jane wondered. This has been on her mind for a while now. The Surgeon's message on the floor was quite clear. He considered Maura adversity. He considered her clever enough to find him. Maybe she did find evidence. But it was probably long gone by now.

"Her autopsy notes vanished. He probably took them with him."

"It must be important. Maura discovered something, that's for sure." Jane thought for a while, before an idea popped in her head. "Maura likes to record her notes on her phone. Did we recover it from the crime scene?"

"No, it was gone." Korsak sighed again.

"When Maura wakes up, she'll tell us what happened." Jane asserted in a calm voice.

"Jane..."

"She _will_ , Korsak. She has to."

"I hope so Jane."

And with that, the call ended.

Jane scratched her head tiredly, and made a face. How long had it been since she last washed her hair?

Shaking her head and deciding she will most definitely _not_ think about this while Maura's fighting for her life in an operating room, she went back to join Charles, who was drinking his fifth energy drink of the hour.

"That's probably gonna kill you," she joked, making him burst out in laughter. It was probably from all the duress he's been under, and he's just cracking under all the pressure, but she's happy she made him laugh.

"Maura fought back," she told him in a soft voice. "That means she probably has skin particles from whoever did that to her under her nails. It can help us catch him. Even in her situation, she still solved the case."

"My little genius. She would've solved it either way," he sighed, and Jane felt the need to hug him.

"She probably did. That's why he... attacked her." Her voice came out as strangled in the end but Charles didn't comment.

They stayed silent for a while after that, and Jane found herself falling asleep slowly.

Her eyes opened with a start at yelling. People were yelling around her. She groaned internally, and was this close to screaming, when she remembered.

 _Maura._

She jolted up from her seat, and was face to face with a young woman, probably her age, wearing a white blouse and red scrubs underneath. _The surgical department scrubs._ She racked her brain to remember how she knew that, but decided it wasn't important.

What was important was that Charles was punching a wall to her left, and that woman in front of her had that face that said 'someone died and we're trying to be empathic.' But that empathy was fake, and Jane's tears certainly weren't.

"She's dead. She's dead, isn't she?"

Regardless of the fact that it wasn't a question, the doctor nodded wordlessly, turned around, and went away.

Jane could swear she was smirking.

"She deserved it." She heard it come from behind her in detached, smug syllables.

"She was in my way." She definitely recognized the voice.

She turned around, and Charles was bent over her, a smirk on his face. Her vision turned red around the edges, and she could swear her ears filled with static. Impossible... It was impossible.

"Jane... You failed, dear Jane... Jane. JANE."

She bolted upwards, taking short ragged breathes. This was definitely the most frightening nightmare she ever had. Even more frightening than the night she dreamt that she went to the school dance in her unicorn onesie. She didn't even _own_ a unicorn onesie. That was a year ago.

Anyway, she looked to her right, where the voice that had woke her up came from. Charles was still there, still drinking his energy drink. She felt oddly uncomfortable, sitting with him like that.

"You were restless. It looked like you were having a nightmare. Are you okay?" He asked tiredly, like he didn't care if she was okay or not, but it was custom to ask.

"Yeah, yeah. I-" _I can't remember what I dreamt_. "It was nothing."

"Dr. Hoyt?" A young woman wearing red scrubs and a fake empathic expression appeared in front of them. "It's about Maura Isles."

* * *

 **Hope you liked this :) leave a review if you did, and I'll be back tomorrow with more!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi everyone! For once, I held my promise, and I updated when I said I would! Yay!**

 **... Though I kinda had to stop studying for a chemistry exam I have tomorrow to finish this.**

 **That's how much I love you guys. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Is she dead?" Jane yelped without meaning to. She immediately clasped a hand to her mouth, going wide-eyed.

Charles patted her on the shoulder gently. "Jane calm down. Sara, speak."

"Yes, doctor." The intern muttered painfully, and Jane noticed that it wasn't fake empathy on her face, it was discomfort. "Ms. Isles got out of a successful surgery. She is resting in the post-op room number 011. She's still asleep though. You can go see her now if you want."

"That was excellent Sara, thank you." Charles nodded, dismissing the intern, and turned to Jane. "See? She's fine. Stop trying to bite your finger off." He slapped her finger away from her mouth.

She didn't even notice she was biting her nails.

They walked to Maura's room silently, Jane turning his last words in her head. _'That was excellent, Sara. Thank you.'_ It seemed so... impersonal, so detached.

"She's one of my best interns." Charles started, sensing the burning unasked question on her lips. "But she has some difficulties addressing families of patients. So I assigned her to news-breaking duty. The best way to overcome a fear is to immerse yourself in it."

Jane nodded wordlessly. He seemed pretty calm and composed for a man whose sister just returned from the dead.

She shook her head. It was probably her dream that was making her question everything. She couldn't exactly remember what it was, but the distorted, blurry images still made her shudder. She was pretty sure it had something to do with Charles, though.

Her thoughts dissipated when she came face to face with the door 011. Charles went in, but she stayed still, rooted in place, unable to move.

Maura was in there. Pale, fragile Maura, who had just survived a surgeon attack, was in there. And she hated her with all her heart. What if she woke up and saw her, then got angry, made her monitors act up? What if-

"Jane? Are you coming in?" Charles asked her curiously, watching her with a raised eyebrow. "You're sweating."

She blushed furiously, clenching and unclenching her fists. They were, in fact, moist. She had never been more embarrassed in her life.

"Yeah, yeah, of course." She took a deep breath. She's faced worse.

As she took a step forward into the room, and faced a body, as pale as a corpse, lying on the bed, hooked up with all kinds of machines, she thought that no, she hasn't faced worse.

* * *

"This is agent Alexandra Fields," Cavanaugh mentioned to a small woman with long wavy black hair and green eyes. She waved at them with a dazzling smile, but still, Frost found himself getting angry. They sent their federal dogs to take over. That's the worst insult the FBI could throw at the police dept.

"She'll be assisting in the investigation. We've resorted to using the FBI because their material is far more advanced than ours, and we'll need the best of the best to solve this case and put the son of a bitch behind bars."

"This is agent Jason Hawthorne. He'll also join in as our official liaison with the FBI, and our criminal profiler." A blond-haired man with striking blue eyes and a stern face glared at every single one of them.

Frost's teeth gritted and he could swear he saw the agent smirk.

That made him even angrier.

An hour later, with the two FBI agents gone to fill paperwork, Frost was sitting on Korsak's desk, watching him stroke his new cat.

"That's a first for you." He put his anger aside to focus on the more important here: Korsak's new cat. "You adopted a cat?"

"Yes. This is Hairball. He acts just like a dog. Look." Korsak answered excitedly. He presented his hand to the cat, whispering a 'shake, hairball,' but was only met with a yawn and some more purring from the cat.

"It acts just like a dog, huh." Frost sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. A distraction gone by too soon. If only the cat could do backflips or something, it would've distracted him from his urge to kill the two new agents.

" _He_ does! He's just tired!"

Frost rolled his eyes. "I hate those two new morons. They'll distract us more than anything. Everyone already hates Mr. Glare, and the more... perverted detectives are all hitting on the woman. It's giving us a bad rep, and it's distracting us from the most important, catching the killer!"

"You're right, you're right." Korsak distractedly answered; since he was too busy ogling the female agent who just came back into the room.

"Okay, people, let's get to work!" She clapped her hands excitedly, making Frost groan loudly.

She didn't even look in his direction, but he noticed that the man was glaring at him again.

"I'll need everyone to work on organizing the victims of the Surgeon alphabetically, in a neat, detailed folder. ME notes, crime scene reports, I want everything in there. I'll also need your personal notes."

"Yo lady, you'll probably take all the credit. Why should we give you our notes?" One of the older detectives drawled on, making a few of his colleagues nod their heads in agreement.

"I thought you wanted this man incarcerated and harmless? So unless you've already managed to do that on your own, I'd like your notes now. STAT." She ended her sentence on an icy tone, making the other FBI agent smile.

Frost's lips twitched. Oh, he was starting to like her.

* * *

 _"Get her out of my room. Now."_

* * *

 **Hope you liked it! Leave a review, I'd love to hear your thoughts :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hi everyone! Sorry for the long long wait, I had school shit, and my mental health was really bad ^^' anyways, I hope you enjoy this, and please read at the end, I have a _SUPER IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE!_**

 **Also, to the people who reviewed these last few days, and ever really: this is for you. Thank you.**

 **Without further ado... Chapter 13!**

* * *

 _"Get out of my room, now."_ Jane shuddered as she pictured Maura saying these words to her. She certainly seemed like she _would_ actually say them, when she threw Jane out of her house and threatened to fire her.

But it was a misunderstanding. Maura liked her. That, Jane knew. She also knew that she wanted to be her friend. She wouldn't give her up that easily. She was just angry.

... Right?

She snapped out of her thoughts when she stopped into the hospital room. It was blank, to say the least, the only splash of color being a bouquet of flowers in a vase on the bedside table.

Maura was lying on the bed in the center of the room, her chest rising and falling slowly. Her heartbeat rang steadily across the room in an impersonal, yet reassuring way, and that was when Jane finally allowed herself to relax. She was alive. _Maura was alive._

"Oh, thank God." She heard Charles whisper from beside her, and when she looked at him, she noticed he had tears pooling in his eyes. She decided not to comment, however. It was nice to see him as a human, for once, not this perfect... Being.

Jane sniffled and wiped her nose with her sleeve reflexively, as she approached Maura's bedside. She was disheveled, her clothes smelled of the hospital waiting room, and her breath of orange Fanta. But she didn't care.

She carefully sat on the chair next to the bed, as if sitting brusquely would wake up the sleeping beauty. She took her hand in her own, starting to draw circular soothing motions with her thumb. She didn't know if she was trying to soothe Maura's pain, if she even had any, or her own.

Suddenly, a laugh echoed in the room.

Jane's head whipped around, and she saw Charles doubled over, laughing his heart out. Jane found the spectacle rather amusing, and she couldn't help but let out a chuckle of her own, though it was somewhat confusing.

"What?" She asked, more laughter bubbling in her chest.

"I... I'm just this kind of person who laughs in these situations?" Charles managed between fits of laughter, as he wiped tears from his eyes, and doubled over again.

Jane was heaving by then. "That makes two of us. How did... Did you even manage to become a surgeon?"

"What the hell is going on with you two?" Angela's sobering voice resonated in the room, quieting the two adults. "You looked like you were going mad."

"We were Ma." Jane sniffled again, and a couple of happy tears streaking down her face. "Not anymore."

Angela smiled, went into the room, ruffling Charles' hair in the process, and went to sit by Maura, on the bed.

The doctor, who straightened his hair back in place without Angela noticing, also approached, and sat next to the matriarch.

And thus... The wait began.

* * *

Back at the precinct, Frost was still having a hard time getting used to the new agents.

The woman was even bossier than Jane, and they discovered that her sweet facade hid something much more cruel and monstrous underneath. She was like that one teacher who could make the whole class fall silent with a single look. Except this woman was in her mid-twenties, and she could silence the entire Homicide division, composed entirely of grown men –and Jane. It was... embarrassing, to say the least.

The man was like her bodyguard, but Frost amused himself by calling him her pit-bull. He certainly looked like he could become one if anyone even dared to cross his dearest Alexandra. Even though she would've chewed out the person and spit them out, before he could bare his teeth.

Overall, they seemed like a good duo. They worked with each other exceptionally well, and they could even finish each other's sentences, and lines of thought. It was pretty impressive, for Frost and the other detectives, who struggled with sharing donuts without getting into a fight about who would take the strawberry one.

They were making zero progress on the surgeon case, though. He had wiped out the crime scene completely. They found absolutely no evidence. He had taken Dr. Isles' notes with him, along with her cell phone, and... A strand of her hair. It was part of his M.O to take a strand of hair as memorabilia. Frost found it all the more chilling that he chose to do so to Dr. Isles too. It meant that he wanted her dead. Yet, she managed to live. That was going to put a serious stop to his plans, at least for the moment.

As soon as they heard that the doctor was out of surgery, they had sent a couple of people in, to swipe under her fingernails. They found some tissue, which they immediately sent to the lab. Now it was just a waiting game. Could the test results come back before the surgeon strikes again?

And if they do, will they be able to identify him? It seemed very reckless of him, leaving his own DNA under Maura's nails. That was something he would never have done before. But maybe... something was different this time.

As Frost was jotting all of that down on his notebook, drawing charts and maps of his thinking, the phone on his desk rang.

He immediately picked up, hearing only one sentence before bolting upright and out of the room: "She's awake."

* * *

Alexandra was sitting at her makeshift desk inside of Analysts' room, trying to comb through all of the detectives' notes as quickly as possible. They needed to be progressing quicker if they wanted to catch that monster before he makes another victim.

She sighed for the umpteenth time, getting up to stretch. She rubbed her wrists painfully, eying her notebook with distaste. She's been writing for about 4 hours now. Still, not a clue of who that man was, why he was doing all of this, and how.

For the first time in her life, Alexandra Fields was stumped. She did not like the feeling.

"You okay, Alex?" Jason asked, as he entered her 'office', two coffees in his hands.

"No. I hate this. I hate him." She gestured vaguely toward her desk, and Jason smiled.

"You'll get him. You always do. Remember Mark Hathaway?"

"Yes, I caught him because of a returned library book."

"Just wait for the mistake. They always happen. No serial killer is perfect."

"The Zodiac killer was perfect." She countered, sitting on the edge of her desk, gripping her coffee with both hands. She took in the smell with a smile, and the first sip with a beam. How she needed that at the moment... He always knew how to cheer her up.

"That's because they didn't have you at the time." He winked and sat beside her, bumping her shoulder with his playfully.

"You're sweet." She laughed, and looked at the ground, her moment of happiness gone. "I heard the doctor made it. Poor woman... Having to live through that..." She shuddered, memories resurfacing, but they quickly vanished when Jason put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"Hey, she's strong, just like you were. She'll make it, and she'll help us crack the case."

Alexandra stared at the scars going across her wrists, and smiled, pain radiating off her. "I hope so."

* * *

 **Okay, about that announcement: _THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT FOR ME GUYS SO PLEASE READ!_ **

**So I decided to create a... writing club! Yep, you read right! It's on discord (an app you can download on your pc/mac/phone). Basically I send out prompts weekly, and you have one week to complete your assignment (nothing is obligatory of course, it's not homework :)), and you can send it to the club for feedback, and you can read other people's stories! And of course, we can get to know each other and be closer as a community! If you want in, DM me! I'll send you an invite to the server, we'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to have you guys!**

 **Anyways, hope you had a good read! Leave a review if you want to! They make me wanna write faster :3**


End file.
